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Category: Photography

Everyone loves the waterfalls, and people go on long trips to enjoy this amazing creation of nature. Waterfalls are simply fun and bathing in it is an experience you can’t miss out on. Sitting under a waterfall, drowning in its deafening sound is one of the most tranquil experiences you can ever have in nature. The avid photographer cannot slip by a chance to capture some stunning waterfall images. While clicking waterfalls is simple, remember to be extra careful about your equipment. Follow these tips for some fantastic waterfall images.

Judge the waterfall:

A lot of photography is done based on judgement. You have to understand the functions and limitations of your camera along with external factors like the weather, light and supplementary equipment. Waterfall photography is best done on your judgement. Manipulating the shutter speed can help you create ghostly or dramatic images of the water. Your aperture is critical in adding just the right amount of depth in your photos. While composing your frame, don’t forget to follow the rule of the thirds. Try not to have too many elements in the frame that would rob away the waterfall’s charm.

Tripod:

The tripod is a simple yet crucial tool for waterfall photography. Besides adding to the stability of your image, the tripod lets you shoot long exposure shots with relative ease. You can even add additional protection to your lens and body against water droplets.

Weather

Check the weather forecast before heading out to shoot a waterfall. Slightly clouded skies with no rain would be ideal. If the sun is out, you could be lucky enough to see a rainbow near the waterfall. Sprays of water and the sun in the right position will get you the magical rainbow.

Filters:

There many filters you could play with to get different results. It’s recommended to use a Neutral Density filter for better quality of contrast. You can also try using a Polarising filter to nullify the light that causes overexposed spots near the water. Take two exposures, one for the water and one for the surrounding to get a balanced picture with perfect lighting.

Lastly, we suggest that you learn by trial and error. It’s the best way to learn and get stunning images. Happy shooting!

Sighting rainbows is always thrilling. This natural phenomenon is simply magical and can completely transform the horizon. Rainbows make everything look like fairyland and surreal. Capturing these wonderful sights should definitely be on every photographer’s list. A rainbow is an optical phenomenon that occurs due to the refraction of light through water vapour. If you are extremely lucky, you can sometimes catch multiple rainbows too! In multiple rainbows, the secondary arc is seen outside the primary rainbow in a fainter inverted arrangement of colours. The natural conditions have a large influence on the characteristic of the rainbow and its appearance. Here are some handy tips on capturing a shot of rainbows:

1. Composition:

The composition of your photo is extremely crucial. The colours of the rainbow may not always be bright. Try to frame the rainbow against a clear background without too many elements and the foreground should ideally be a contrast to the sky. Try keeping a good balance between the elements in the foreground, and background.

2. Polarising Filter:

Unnecessary light can reduce the rainbow’s visibility in the taken picture. Using a polarising filter will cut out excess light and the colours of the rainbow would come out brightly. Polarising filters increase the vibrancy of colours by reducing the sunlight that passes through the camera lens.

3. Lens:

Keep a wide angle and telephoto lens handy. The wide-angle lens will help you capture the entire width of the rainbow. You can capture the entire primary arc and if you are lucky, the secondary rainbow arcs too. The telephoto lens comes in handy when you aim for the ‘End-Of-The-Rainbow’ shots. Rainbow photography trips would be sorely incomplete without an image of the point where the rainbow meets the ground.

4. Metering:

Consciously meter the light away from the dark clouds behind the rainbow. This will reduce the vibrancy of the rainbow.

Chasing rainbows is an exciting adventure! Rainbows often last for a few minutes, not giving you enough time to set up your equipment. It is advisable to also use a good tripod to capture rainbows for stable and sharp shots. We hope you capture some stunning rainbows with the help of these tips and who knows, maybe the pot of gold too.

Experimenting with various lenses will surely introduce you to different effects and techniques. One such amazing technique is the Bokeh Effect. The word ‘Bokeh’ has Japanese roots and means ‘blurred’. This effect has a lot of visual stimulation and is driven by an aesthetically created image. The blur in the image is extremely crucial in making it a beautiful Bokeh Effect. The Bokeh Effect was big trend of the 90s and has stuck on since then. Many innovative ways have been discovered to create an artificial Bokeh Effect with lighting and low-depth of field. There are three nifty points for you to remember when you experiment with the Bokeh Effect

Focal Length:

Use a fixed focal length lens while taking a Bokeh picture. Ideally you could use 50mm f-1.8 or a 35mm f-1.4 lens for such kind of effects.

Aperture:

The aperture determines the amount of light that enters the camera sensor. The extent to which the aperture is open is indicated by F-stops. Lower the F-stop value, the wider is the aperture. For the Bokeh effect, use a very low F-stop value. This allows maximum light to enter the camera.

Depth of Field:

Always use a low depth of field. This gives you the blurred lights in the background. It’s essential that you place your subject close to the lens for the best results.

The perfect Bokeh image has some commonly accepted characteristics. The blurry spots of lights seen in the background ideally should register as individual images on the sensor. The elements in the out-of-focus parts of the image need to be more of less spherical with varying intensity of light. A lot of Bokeh photos come down to experimentation with various light settings and styles. It is recommended that you use a fixed focal length lens, which will give you the perfect shallow depth of field you are looking for. At times using telescopic lenses can also do the trick, but ensure that the background lights appear fuzzy and unclear. Not to forget, the proximity to the subject also plays a role in forming the Bokeh effect. Try various combinations and experiment to get the perfect Bokeh picture!